Learned Silk, Rotimi Jacobs SAN, then set out the Section of the Law to be Section 315 of the Penal
Code, as well as set out in detail, the ingredients necessary to sustain the Offences of Criminal Breach
of Trust and relied on the following cases: ONUOHA VS THE STATE (1988) 3 NWLR PART 83 PAGE
460 AT PAGE 471; AKWULE VS THE QUEEN (1963) NSCC PAGE 157; FRN VS MARTINS (2012) 14
NWLR PART 1320 PAGE 287 AT PAGE 318; UZOAGBE VS COP (2014) 8 NWLR PART 1401 PAGE
441 AT PAGE 456 AND 463; AND MATA VS THE STATE (2013) 3 NWLR PART 1342 PAGE 607 AT
PAGE 619 AND 620.
Learned Silk comprehensively analyzed the evidence proffered by all the Witnesses from the
Prosecution and Defence, and by way of response to the question of the omission of the word
“dishonestly” in the Counts for Criminal Breach of Trust, Learned Silk contended that the arguments
as put forward by the Defence were spurious and unsupported by either Section 315 of the Penal
Code or the Case Law in AKWULE VS QUEEN (SUPRA) and such arguments cannot vitiate the
Defendant’s Trial. According to him, Craig JSC, in the case of ONUOHA VS THE STATE (SUPRA) AT
PAGE 470 had authoritatively set out the ingredients for this Offence for which the Defence cannot,
by way of submission, set out a new requirement. According to Learned Silk, ONUOHA’S Case, used
the technical words, “committed a Criminal Breach of Trust”, and he argued that once this phrase is
contained in a Count, it is said to have embedded or taken into consideration the fact that the act was
dishonest, as well as taken into account, other definitions contained in Section 311 of the Code.
Further, the case of YAKUBU IBRAHIM VS COP (SUPRA), as cited by the Defence would not avail him
because the Defendant in the above cited case, was charged under Sections 311 and 312 of the
Code, while in this instance, the Defendant is charged under Section 315.
To demonstrate his point on what needed to be proved and on how to Draft a Charge for this Class of
Offence, he referred to AKWULE’s Case and S.S. Richardson’s Note on Penal Code Fourth Edition
at Page 243 and stated that even, the Supreme Court had relied and adopted the ingredients as set
forth in Richardson in the case of ONOGWU VS THE STATE (1995) 6 NWLR PART 401 PAGE 276
AT PAGE 291. The Court of Appeal also adopted the above in the case of AJIBOYE VS FRN (2014)
LPELR CA/IL/C.51/2014, which was a case of Theft under Section 289 of the Code, where the
expression “committed theft” in the Charge was used, without stating out its ingredients as contained
in Section 286 of the Code and where the Prosecution, had also framed the Offence of Criminal Breach
of Trust in the same manner as couched in this present case.
In addition, Nigerian Cases had faithfully been following Indian Precedence and Sections 405 and
409 of the Indian Penal Code is synonymous with Sections 311 and 315 of the Penal Code. The
Leading Indian Authors, Ratanlal and Dhirajlal, in their Book, The Indian Penal Code, 31st Edition,
2006, had couched the Charge for this form of Offence in a similar manner. Further, commenting on
Section 409, these Authors had stated that dishonesty may be inferred from the surrounding
circumstances.
Learned Silk therefore submitted that the Charge was framed in compliance with the requirements of
the Law, and the Prosecution is expected to adhere strictly to the language used in Section 315 of the
Penal Code and to prove dishonesty, which element is embedded in the phrase, “committed Criminal
Breach of Trust”. According to him, the argument of the Defence was misconceived and cannot be
right.
Apart from that, the Defendant had not stated that he was misled as to the nature of the Charge he
was facing, for he had pleaded Not Guilty to both the Original Charge and the Amended Charge. By
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